James francis wilson



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet J. P. WILSON.

GRAIN CLEANING MACHINE.

No. 404,456. Patented June 4, '1 889.

Inf/0%? 2 t e e. h S S Bu 8 h S 2 N O S L I P J (No Model.)

GRAIN. GLEANING MACHINE.

Patented June 4 War? 9% UNITED STATES ATENT FFICE.

JAMES FRANCIS \VILSON, OF ORANGE, ASSIGN OR TO THOMAS \VILLIAM CARR, OF MARRICKVILLE, NEXV SOUTH ALES.

GRAIN- CLEANING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATIONforming part of Letters Patent No. 404,456, dated June 4, 1889.

Application filed )ctohcr 13, 1888. Serial No. 288,287. (No model.) Patented in New South Wales'October 26, 1886 j in South Australia March 28', 1888, and in Victoria May 25, 1888.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES FRANCIS l/VILSON, miller, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at O 'ange, in the Colony of New South ales, have invented an Improved Grain- Cleaning Machine, (for which Letters of Registration of the British Colony of New South ales were granted to me bearing date October 26, 1886, and applications for Letters Patent of the British Colonies of South Australia and Victoria were filed 011 March 28, 1888, and May 25, 1888, respectively, which Letters Patent of and when granted will bear date as of the day of application,) of which the following is a specification.

This invention has been specially devised in order to provide a simple and economical machine which will remove black oats, dockseed, sand, defective grain, and other deleterious substances from wheat and other cereals, and which may be made of portable size to be used in the field, or of larger capacity for use in the granary.

The invention consists in one or more inclined endless and upwardly-movable belts or aprons made of blanket or other woolen material, or material which has a long nap or rough surface, in the relative arrangement of a plurality of such belts or aprons and in the combination therewith of ducts for conducting the bad or defective grain from the upper end of such belts out of the machine, and of common feed and delivery devices therefor, and in structural features and combinations of parts, substantially as hereinafter fully described, and as set forth in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figures 1 and 2 represent my improved machine in side and end elevation, respectively, and Figs. 3 and 4 in vertical longitudinal and transverse section, respectively, said section, Fig. 4, being taken on or about on the interrupted line a; :0, Fig. 3.

A indicates the casing or box, which may be constructed in any suitable manner to receive and support the operating and driving mechanism.

A indicates the uprights; A the sides; A the cross-timbers; A the top; B, the feedhopper; B, the distributing-roller mounted on shaft 13 and A, A and H, the dischargespouts.

I have shown in the drawings three endless belts or aprons C, D, and E, arranged in inclined planes alternating in direction-that. is to say, the upper and lower aprons incline upward from left to right, while the intermediate apron inclines upward from right to left, the lowermost portion of each apron lying in such plane as to discharge the grain upon the apron immediately below it, such grain being fed from hopper B and distributing-roll B to the upper apron or belt C at the point of its greatest elevation, or approximately so, while the lowermost apron E discharges the clean grain from the point of least elevation into the discharge-spout 1-1, the impurities being discharged at the point of greatest elevation of the aprons into the discharge-spouts A A respectively.

He'reto'fore in machines of this class rubber belts or belts made of textile material having a comparatively smooth surface'that is to say, a comparatively short nap-11 ave been employed, so that the separation of the bad and barbed from the good grain could not be expeditiously and thoroughly effected, for the reason that such bad grain is liable to be carried along with the good grain over such smooth inclined surface.

In machines of this class, where a series of aprons or belts have been used, these have also been arranged in planes inclining in the same direction, thus necessitating large inclosing-casings on the one hand, and on the other the grain moves with an accelerating motion over such inclined surfaces, tending to carry along with it the bad grain.

By the arrangement of the endless aprons, as described, and by making such aprons of a textile material having a comparatively long nap, and especially of awoolen material, the barbed as wellas the bad grain are more effectually retained, while the passage of the grain over the aprons is substantially uniform. The accelerating motion the grain would acquire during its passage over an extended and comparatively smooth surface is here avoided, not only by the reversely-inelined aprons, but by the retardin action to motion of the nap thereof.

The edges of the aprons (l, D, and E are bound with a strip of any suitable material, such, for instance, as a strip of leather 1). The aprons C, D, and E are each mounted on a pair of rolls marked, respectively, 0 0, (Z d, and e e, the spindles or shafts of the upper rolls 0 (l 6 serving as a pivot, upon which swing the lower rolls 0' (1 6, respectively, said lower rolls being mounted in a frame F, hung upon the spindle of the upper roll of each pair, so that the inclination of the aprons may be adjusted, said frames F being suspended at their lower ends by a chain f from a spindle or shaft f, that carries on the outside of the frame a ratchet-wheel f with which engages a retaining-pawl f, such spindle or shaft being squared for the reception of a key for rotating it. The lower roll of each pair is adjustable toward and from the upper roll to keep the aprons at the proper tension by means of the devices shown in Fig. 1, G being a plate secured to the roller-frame F, said plate being slotted to receive the bearing-block for the journal of said. lower roll, and is provided along said slot with guide-ribs g and with a perforated lug or ear 9, through which passes the adj usting-screw being the adj ustingnut and g the jam-nut, the frame A being provided with suitable openings to afford access to the screw and its adjusting-nuts.

To prevent the grain as it falls from the lower end of one apron onto the upper end of the next apron below being dashed over the said upper end, I employ dash-boards F, adjustable by means of a thumb-screw (not shown) to suit the inclination or angle of the aprons, said dash-boards extending vertically in front of the lower end of the upper apron C and intermediate apron D, the lower edge of said dash-boards lying in proximity to the aprons D and E at or near the point of greatest elevation thereof.

To prevent the aprons from sagging under the weight of the grain, I employ a transverse support F which maybe of wood or stretched canvas, secured to the checks of the frame F, and to prevent the grain from falling over the edges of the apron I so construct the frame F as to project beyond the edges of the aprons, the projecting portion or flange F tapering upwardly, so as to form a flange whose greatest depth is at the point where the grain runs off the aprons, and at which such grain has the greatest velocity, as plainly shown in Fig. b.

To prevent barbed grain and other impuri ties from adhering to the aprons and being carried around with them, I employ a beater or whip for each apron,as' indicated at I I 1 Fig. 3, that is composed of a shaft or spindle '1', near each end of which is secured adisk 2", to which disks are connected the opposite ends of leather thongs, ropes, or other like whipping devices 2 so as to hang loosely between said disks. This whip or beater I is arranged below the aprons at or near the point of greatest elevation and in such proximity thereto that as the spindle iis revolved the loose whips will be thrown against the under side of said aprons to whip off any material adhering thereto.

As shown in Fig. 3, the whips or boaters I are so arranged relatively to the dash or dividing boards F as that their spindles t' will. lie in the plane of such boards, so that the material whipped off the aprons C E will fall between such boards and the adjacent wall of the easing into the discharge-spout A while the material whipped off the apron I) will fall into the discharge-spout A, as shown in said Fig.

The revoluble devices of the machine are driven as follows, referringmore particularly to Figs. 2 and 4c: The spindle or shaft 13 of the distributing-roll 1} carries at one end a belt-pulley Z1 that is driven from an y suitable prime motor. At its other end said shaft. carries a gear-wheel b, that meshes with a like wheel a on the shaft or spindle c of the upper roll 0 of apron. O. The spindle 0 also carries, besides the gear-wheel 0 a double belt-pulley C and at its opposite end a beltpulley 0 One section 0 of pulley is belted by cross-belt to a pulley D on the spindle (Z of the upper roll of apron D, while the other section 0 of double pulley C is bolted to a pulley E on the spindle e of the upper roll of apron E, thus causing all the aprons to travel upwardly at their upper sides. The pulley c on spindle c is belted to the section 1' of a triple pulley I, the sections and 1' of which are belted by crossed and straight belts, respectively, to pulleys K and L on the spindles k and Z of the whips or beaters I 1 that operate on the aprons D and E, so that said boaters will move in the same direction as the aprons.

The operation of the machine will be readily understood from the above description, and may be briefly summarized as follows: The operating mechanism being set in motion through the belt-pulley b and grain fed to the upper apron C from chute or hopper B, the good or heavy grain will roll down the apron, while the lighter or bad grain and other impurities retained by the long nap of the apron will be carried up and over the apron, and dust or other light impurities adhering to the apron being whipped off by beater I and falls into chute A From the upper apron the good grain is discharged upon the intermediate apron D, whereby any momentum acquired in its descent over the upper apron is checked, the grain traveling in areversely-inclined direction down the apron D, and thence again in a reversely-inelined direction down the apron E, from whence it passes into discharge spout or chute II. Such lighter material or other impurities that may be carried along with the grain over the upper apron will be taken up by the intermedi- IIS ate apron, so that but a comparatively small amount of such material will reach the lower apron E, the grain coming out of the machine thoroughly cleaned.

Of course, according to the nature of the grain operated upon, the number of aprons employed maybe reduced or increased, as will be readily understood.

I claim 1. In a grain-cleaning machine, the combination of a plurality of inclined overlapping and upwardly-traveling endless aprons composed of a long-napped fabric and arranged to successively deliver the material from one to the other at a point proximate to the greatest elevation of the aprons, a feeding device adapted to feed the material to the upper apron of the series at the point of greatest elevation thereof, a discharge-chute adapted to deliver the material at the point of least elevation of the last or lowermost of the series of aprons, a beater for each apron arranged below the same in proximity to the point of greatest elevation of the aprons, adjustable diverting-boards F, arranged and operating to arrest rebounding sound grain as it passes down the aprons and to divert the impurities carried over the aprons and beaten therefrom into a separate delivery-chute, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. In a grain-cleaning machine, the combination, substantially as herein described, of a plurality of overlapping frames inclined alternately in reverse directions, said frames having side flanges increasing in height from a point near the greatest elevation of the frames to the point of least elevation, a roller-shaft mounted at each end of said frames, the upper shaft constituting the pivot for the frame, an adjustable hanger for the lower roller-shaft, an endless apron composed of a long-napped textile fabric supported from rollers on said shafts, mechanism, such as described, to cause said aprons to move in an upward direction, a Whip for each apron arranged below the same in proximity to the point of its greatest elevation, and. adjustable diverting-boards F, arranged and operating relatively to the aprons, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

' JAMES FRANCIS WILSON. \Vitnesses:

FRED WALsH, I. ORMSTON CARR. 

